THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tension gripped Neyyattinkara in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district on Wednesday evening after RSS activists staged a protest against Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Tushar Gandhi during the unveiling of Gandhian representative Gopinathan Nair’s statue at his residence at TB Junction.
The protest was triggered by Tushar’s remark during his speech that “the soul of the nation is afflicted with cancer, and the Sangh Parivar is spreading it”.
Outraged BJP and RSS activists demanded a retraction and an apology. Tushar, however, stood by his remark, and chanted “hail, Gandhi”, before leaving. The protesters shouted slogans and blocked his car, but Tushar refused to back down and countered with slogans like “down with RSS” and “long live Gandhi”, before exiting the venue.
Congress condemned RSS-BJP activists, with party’s state chief K Sudhakaran accusing them of being haunted by “(Nathuram) Godse’s ghost”. He also questioned CPM’s silence on the incident.